Microsoft's Surface RT and Surface Pro aren't exactly lighting up the sales charts, but that isn't stopping the software giant from expanding the latter's reach into new markets. Microsoft launched the Surface Pro (in 64GB and 128GB capacities) in the U.S. earlier this year, and Japanese buyers will now getting the opportunity to sample Microsoft's home-brewed tablet aimed at business users.

Starting June 8, potential customers in Japan will be able to purchase the familiar 64GB and 128GB Surface Pro models. In addition, a new 256GB SKU has been added to the mix and will be available for 119,800 yen ($1,175) -- this wouldn't be the first time that a company released a higher capacity model late in the a product's life cycle to extend its life a bit.

Microsoft is also being especially generous to Japanese customers by throwing in Office 2013 for free with all SKUs -- U.S. customers must purchase an Office 2013 license separately.

Battery life is actually really good on mine. I won't compare it to an iPad for battery life, but i also wouldn't compare an iPad to it for capabilities. If I use it constantly, I get about 5 hours on a charge. When the device is in sleep mode, it really does a great job saving battery. The native wacom digitizer seems like a gimic at first, and now I don't want to live without it. The touch keyboard is pretty much crap, but the type keyboard works well. The touchpad isn't great, although I don't like touchpads in general. The nice thing is the touchpad becomes less needed when you can use the pen or your finger to do many tasks. (I also have the wedge mouse which took some getting used to, but now feels fluid when I use it).

I do think haswell will bring a big boost to the surface. Graphics are supposed to be much better, and power consumption should be lower. Will be interesting to see if the pro 2 can go fanless and ventless, which would allow them to either pack in more battery and keep the same size, or make it thinner and lighter.

That battery life would be reasonable for a laptop. For example my Alienware m14x R2 gets similar battery life (Assuming you don't use the GPU). For a tablet, it's pretty bad battery life compared to the iPad's (claimed) 10 hour battery life.

It's really dependent if you think of the Surface Pro as a tablet, or a strange-looking laptop.

Comparing iPad and Surface Pro battery life is comparing... an apple and an orange (har har)

If you want to make that argument, then the inverse argument must also be made, that the iPad is a pathetically slow and limited tablet compared to a Surface Pro. You can only install programs from the Apple app store, it doesn't run Office, can't run Chrome/Firefox browsers... etc Heck, the iPad doesn't even support Flash... so much for watching those web only Hulu shows.

Also you compared the Surface Pro to your Alienware laptop, which happens to cost about 50% more than a Surface Pro, has a lower resolution display, doesn't have a touchscreen, nor a digitizer, and weighs more than 6lbs. How much you wanna bet that the battery is a big reason for the heft of your "comparable" laptop?